Social media use disorder and loneliness: any association between the two? Results of a cross-sectional study among Lebanese adults

BACKGROUND: In Lebanon, it is already established that mental disorders are prevalent among the population. Lebanese people are active users of social media platforms. To date, no study has previously explored the relationship between mental health and social media use disorder in Lebanon. The present study aims to learn more about the link between social media use disorder and loneliness among Lebanese people. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out between January and December 2018. It enrolled 456 residents of the community randomly selected from Lebanon’s governorates in a proportionate rate. RESULTS: The results showed that 107 (23.7%) participants were classified as having social media use disorder. The results of a stepwise linear regression, taking the loneliness score as the dependent variable, showed that female gender compared to males (Beta = 0.42), having a secondary level of education compared to illiteracy (Beta = 0.65), higher social media use disorder (Beta = 0.03) and higher insomnia (Beta = 0.02) and alexithymia (Beta = 0.02) were significantly associated with higher loneliness. CONCLUSION: The present study was able to contribute to the literature and showed the association between social media use disorder and loneliness. These findings can benefit psychologists and public health practitioners in their future prevention and intervention plans.